Hell on Wheels (AMC)
The Backstory: In post–Civil War America, a pissed-off Confederate soldier laying rails on the first Transcontinental Railroad hunts down the men who killed his wife.
The Elevator Pitch:Desperado in the days of Glory.
The Good: Tired of shows about the 1960s? Try the 1860s.
The Bad: The Killing proved that AMC can misfire on shows surrounding
mysterious deaths.
The Verdict: We’re saddled up and ready to ride.

Person of Interest(CBS)
The Backstory: A presumed-dead G-man teams up with a mysterious, prognosticating billionaire for some vigilante crime-fighting.
The Elevator Pitch: Burn Notice goes Dark Knight.
The Good: Jim Caviezel (Frequency) and Michael Emerson (Lost bad boy Ben) bring star power to this crime show with a supernatural spin.
The Bad: When these high-concept mysteries fizzle out after half a season, we’re left scratching our heads in frustration.
The Verdict: Our Magic 8 Ball predicts that the outlook is not so good.

Grimm (NBC)
The Backstory: Grimm’s fairy tales come to life when a homicide detective discovers he comes from a family of elite monster-hunters who can sniff out evil.
The Elevator Pitch: Agent Mulder rescues Hansel and Gretel.
The Good: Finally, a spooky story that isn’t aimed at teenage girls. (Yes, Supernatural and True Blood, we’re looking at you.)
The Bad: Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood don’t exactly have us shaking in our boots.
The Verdict: We’re curious to see how they handle Rumpelstiltskin’s attempts to steal babies.

Terra Nova (Fox)
The Backstory: Futuristic pioneers abandon a dying Earth and time travel to the dinosaur age to give humanity a second shot.
The Elevator Pitch: Land of the Lost meets Lord of the Flies.
The Good: Producer Steven Spielberg promises plenty of action-packed prehistoric adventure.
The Bad: The TV-size budget might mean more family angst than action.
The Verdict: Wait, does this mean that we killed the dinosaurs?

Prime Suspect (NBC)
The Backstory: A tough-as-nails female cop struggles to gain respect and catch the bad guys in the maledominated world of NYPD homicide.
The Elevator Pitch: The Closer meets NYPD Blue.
The Good: Charismatic star Maria Bello (ER) and engaging costars Aidan Quinn (Unknown) and Kirk Acevedo (Fringe) head up a strong ensemble cast.
The Bad: The outdated “boy’s club” posturing will draw more eye rolls
than sympathy.
The Verdict: If it sticks to badass crime-fighting and avoids boring workplace politics, it stands a chance.

Last Man Standing (ABC)
The Backstory: Tim Allen (Home Improvement) is a man’s man forced to play Mr. Mom to his teen daughters.
The Elevator Pitch: 8 Simple Rules for the Tool Time guy.
The Good: Allen has a way of cobbling sitcoms into ratings gold.
The Bad: Parenting high jinks might be as dull as a bag of hammers.
The Verdict: Sounds like a fixer-upper.

Free Agents(NBC)
The Backstory: Talent agent Hank Azaria (The Simpsons) creates a PR nightmare he can’t fix after a drunken one-night stand with a coworker.
The Elevator Pitch: Better Off Ted meets About Last Night …
The Good: Azaria’s comedic chops could make it a sleeper hit.
The Bad: The tired premise is like an attempt to reinvent the flat tire.
The Verdict: We’re doubtful it will live up to the hype.

How to Be a Gentleman(CBS)
The Backstory: A prissy etiquette columnist enlists macho personal trainer Kevin Dillon (Entourage) to help him find the caveman within.
The Elevator Pitch: The Odd Couple on steroids.
The Good: Dillon’s character could be the twin of his Johnny “Drama.”
The Bad: The knucklehead/snob shtick may get old fast.
The Verdict: We’ll sign up for a few sessions.

Allen Gregory (Fox)
The Backstory: An animated comedy about a hilariously pretentious tyke (Superbad’s Jonah Hill) thrown into the perilous world of public school.
The Elevator Pitch: Stewie Griffin takes on Springfield Elementary.
The Good: Hill delivers big laughs as the precocious 7-going-on-47 hero.
The Bad: How edgy can the adventures of a grade-schooler be?
The Verdict: If it lives up to its potential, it’s destined for the honor roll.

Man Up! (ABC)
The Backstory: Three whipped guys try to figure out how to be real men in a world of manscaping and nonfat lattes.
The Elevator Pitch: Butch Eye for the Straight Guy.
The Good: Unapologetic dude humor could strike a note with men everywhere.
The Bad: Uninspired gags and groan worthy clichés could be a real buzzkill.
The Verdict: Man down!

Ringer (CW)
The Backstory: An ex-stripper on the run from the mob pulls a switcheroo with her wealthy twin—but her sister’s life is as dangerous as her own.
The Elevator Pitch: The Parent Trap in witness protection.
The Good: Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Sarah Michelle Gellar could slay critics as the problem-prone twins.
The Bad: We’d like to put a hit on the writer responsible for the worst of the pilot’s dialogue.
The Verdict: Double the Buffy, double the fun.

Charlie’s Angels (ABC)
The Backstory: Three sexy former bad girls turn PI in this relaunch of the classic hit series.
The Elevator Pitch: Um … a relaunch of the classic hit.
The Good: Hottie Angels, of course; a cool new Bosley (Ramon Rodriguez) and a sultry Miami backdrop.
The Bad: Another remake of a 1970s series? What’s next, Happy Days: The Next Generation?
The Verdict: It might take divine intervention for this to survive.

The Playboy Club (NBC)
The Backstory: Drama abounds for an aspiring actress/waitress at the first Bunny club in 1960s Chicago.
The Elevator Pitch: Mad Men goes to Hooters.
The Good: Besides scantily clad chicks, we’re at a loss.
The Bad: Waitress melodrama? Check, please.
The Verdict: Wake us when they make The Penthouse Club—and let’s hope it’s on cable so the strippers can, you know, strip.

Everybody Loves Raymond’s Ray Romano sits in the center of the room. In a moment of pathos, the sitcom clown lets down his mask. “Before I was famous I used to think cab drivers hated me. Now I think limo drivers hate me.” Romano looks to fellow funnymen Garry Shandling, Judd Apatow, and Marc Maron for validation. “Does that feeling ever go away—a feeling like you’re an imposter?”

Moments later, Maron pipes up: “Are we meeting again here next week?”

This isn’t an intimate comedian group-therapy session; it’s a taping of Showtime’s The Green Room with host Paul Provenza—a show with no structure. No rules. No promotional purposes behind conversations. No setups for comedians to fill in punch lines—just pure talk, battle stories, and love of all things comedy.

“It’s real smart people who are stand-up comics, so they are trained in critical thinking and calling people on their bullshit—so their conversation is interesting and compelling,” says Provenza. The green room is the backstage area where comedians hang out between gigs; the place where comics let their guards down and the best stories are told. The Showtime program features comedians hanging out like that—except with a live audience. Filmed at the Vanguard in Hollywood (transformed into what looks like the living room of, say, an eccentric aunt, or “a bar of a very narcissistic restaurant,” as Shandling puts it), a few hundred people—packed in on chairs and sofas—encircle the comedy icons; it’s like being on the inside with the cool kids with The Aristocrats director Paul Provenza as ringmaster.

“We were just trying to do something that’s authentic,” Provenza says between tapings. “It’s the thing I miss in comedy and television. Authenticity is so hard to come by in our culture and lives.” During these next few nights, he’ll be conducting intimate group chatter with the likes of Lewis Black, Ron White, Margaret Cho, Richard Lewis, Jeffrey Ross, Kathy Griffin, Lisa Lampanelli, Janeane Garofalo, and Dave Attell.

“I’ve been a stand-up professionally since I was 17,” Provenza says. “I know what makes comedians comfortable
and what doesn’t. I know what makes comedians feel like they are in a safe space.”

Los Angeles comedian Troy Conrad agrees: “Paul is like a friend who can keep a secret. It doesn’t matter if there’s a crowd of a few hundred people watching. He can create a level of realness and honesty.“

“Provenza’s lineups are great equalizers,” says executive producer Barbara Romen. “It’s exciting to see fresh young comics meeting, for the first time, their comedy heroes—and chat ting as ‘colleagues’ with perspectives to share. Combining 20-year-old Bo Burnham with Judd Apatow, Garry Shandling, and Ray Romano was an experience in comedic incongruity that none of us will ever forget.”

Apatow—dressed like a character from Freaks and Geeks—first wrote Shandling’s jokes for the 1990 Grammys, while Romano initially met the Knocked Up director 17 years ago on HBO’s Young Comedians special. (“I remember seeing you and thinking, That guy’s going to be a great writer.”) Silent up until this point, YouTube sensation Bo Burnham finally pipes in: “I’m of the younger generation, and I was just wondering—for all of you—who are you?”

Huge laughs.

As the guffaws die, Shandling retorts with perfect timing, “The feeling is sooo mutual.”

“Do you need to be screwed up to be funny?” Burnham confronts his elder neurotic peers. “Comedy comes from so many different places,” he says. “Comedy comes from love. It comes from fear. It comes from hate. I never had nothing but encouragement from my parents.”

Provenza lets everyone have their solo as he frames the comedians, then brings the composition back together as a symphony. “I don’t care who the hot comic is or who has done what movie,” he says. “It’s about the energy of the mix.”

The taping later this night has the combustible jazz-cat mix of Tommy Chong, Rick Shapiro, Joe Rogan, and Eddie Ifft. In Joe Rogan’s solo, he confesses to being stoned on marijuana lollipops throughout season two of Fear Factor. Tommy Chong recalls his dehumanizing prison stint and police bust. (“They came to my door and said, ‘Do you have any drugs on the premises?’ I’m Tommy Chong!”) Former addict Shapiro (“I Sucked Dick for Heroin”) mocks Rogan’s riff about talking to dolphins when high. (“Talk to the dolphin again and get more information out of him!”)

After Shapiro’s rant, Provenza jokes, “If he [wasn’t] doing stand-up comedy, somebody would be dead.” He then turns to Chong: “I thought it was time that someone showed you the effects of too [many] drugs.”

Afterward, the comedians and audience spill out onto the back patio of the Vanguard for free drinks and food. Comedy fans abound. Porn star Ron Jeremy meanders about, while on other nights John Corbett, Steven Weber, and even Sugar Ray Leonard schmooze with comedy icons. Tommy Chong—giving off a Buddhist aura—is surrounded by a flock sharing a joint. (You can’t pass up an opportunity to smoke with Tommy Chong—it’s like being blessed by the holy grail of stonerdom.)

“Someone asked me if I do anything to prepare for the show. And the truth is, I’ve been watching Dog Whisperer,” Provenza states. “You come out and go, ‘Okay, what does this animal want—this creature we call ‘comedian’? Okay, this is Kathy Griffin. I have to make her my bitch immediately.

She has to know who’s boss.’ ”

With a “mission accomplished” glow, Provenza sums up his favorite moment of the evening: pushing Garry Shandling to open up. “I had some conversations with Garry about his Zen Buddhism and his spiritual journey, and I was quite surprised that he choose to be so closed, because he celebrates it.”

Provenza kept badgering Shandling until it finally snapped his Zen, and the formerly neurotic funnyman explained his philosophy on comedy and life: “Authenticity. Not a fake moment onstage. Just being. Be authentic of who I am—to be my true self.”

“I talked to him afterward and said, ‘Why were you holding back on me?’ And he said, ‘I don’t know, I just need to be pushed’—and that was a beautiful moment,” Provenza says. “It goes beyond comedy.”

Tell us a little bit about America’s Worst Driver.
We went to eight cities around America, and the producers found four drivers and four passengers in each city. An off-duty cop follows each pair in a van. Every time they do something wrong, he hits the lights. If they screw up, they lose points. Through each stage, one person gets eliminated. We put cameras and microphones in each car so we could listen to them fight. Finally, when we get to the worst driver, we destroy their car.

Their own personal car?
Oh, yeah. We’ve had monster trucks, explosives, car-eating robots.

So why would anyone enter this competition?
People entered for a lot of different reasons. A wife in Seattle literally entered to prove to her husband that she was not
America’s worst driver.

When you were sending these bad drivers out onto the streets, did you ever fear for the other people on the road?
Well, we did have two contestants in the course of the competition get pulled over by actual on-duty cops. Now, think about how you drive if you know there’s a cop following you—if you still drive so badly that another cop pulls you over, you have serious problems.

What’s your personal driving pet peeve?
For me, slow people in the fast lane. I really hate when they cut in front of you, then hit the brakes. It’s like, “You really had to get in front of me?”

What state do you think has the worst drivers?
You know something? We had impressions going in, and we found that there are bad drivers everywhere—they just have different ways of doing it. In New York, your bad drivers are timid in a city of aggressive drivers. In Miami, it’s the opposite: You have people ripping around amongst these senior citizens who can’t see over the wheel. So there isn’t one city where I could say, “Wow, these are the worst drivers.” And it’s not a man or woman thing there are bad men drivers, bad women drivers. We had them all.

What’s your own worst driving habit?
Well, some might say I drive too fast. I’d say it’s in a controlled manner. But I’ve been known to speed here and there.

What’s the last thing you got pulled over for?
Doing 85 in a 65 zone. I got out of it because the cop recognized me from television. Now and then, it pays off. But actually, I’m a good driver. I’ve been to high-performance driving schools, and I used to teach traffic school in L.A.

You also used to work as an airplane mechanic. Were there any parts of that job that you liked better than doing comedy?
None. I love being a comic. I mean, the aerospace job was fun just because I’m a techie—I built stealth fighters for Lockheed, so I got to work on top-secret aircraft. But I definitely love this more.

You’re brutally honest in your routines. Have you ever told a joke and then thought, Oh, shit, I crossed the line?
No. There’s no line, because even if they hate you, they’re responding to the joke, and that means they’re listening to you. I was fortunate enough to work with George Carlin once, and he said, “The trick is to take them across the line and then make them glad they came.”

What do you think is the difference between comedians who can get away with it and those who can’t
Attitude and confidence. If you’re scared to say it, they’ll be scared to hear it. People can tell the difference between something funny and something mean-spirited. It’s like the instincts of a dog. You know how they can smell fear? A crowd can tell when you’re serious and when you’re kidding. Michael Richards was a perfect example—the crowd knew he wasn’t kidding. He showed who he truly was in that moment [when he launched into a racist tirade onstage in 2006].

What makes you laugh?
I like smart stuff, like Family Guy or The Simpsons, which are funny on so many subtle levels. I like comics who are completely different from me—guys like Harland Williams or Jeremy Hotz. I like some of the bromance movies, but I’d like to see a funny movie without Seth Rogen in it. I’m not sure if Hollywood allows that.

You’ve done movies. How do they compare to stand-up?
I haven’t done anything where I would consider myself an actor. But I have huge respect for good actors. And I’m just curious how bad actors get movies. I’d like a few of Tyrese Gibson’s gigs. You know how you see it and you’re like, “How did he get that job?” I want to be that guy. I want to be Paul Walker.

What do you hope people take away from AWD?
When people watch this show, they’re going to relate. You’re either going to turn to the person you’re watching with and say, “I’ve seen you do that!” or you’re going to be honest and be like, “Hey, wait a minute, I do that. I don’t use my turn signal, I speed through a school zone, I scare pedestrians.”

Is there anything else coming up for you?
I’ll be doing another Comedy Central one-hour special toward the end of 2010. And then, who knows? I’m doing the next thing they hire me to do.

Trauma (NBC)
The Backstory:
NBC tries to re-create ER’s success with first responders.
The Elevator Pitch:
ER meets Third Watch.
The Good:
Executive producer Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) knows how to tack l e good drama. On the other hand, FNL frequently overdoses on the melodrama.
The Bad:
The cliché dialogue and stereotypical characters in one three minute trailer left us trauma ti zed. We can’t imagine watching a whole episode, never mind a season.
The Verdict:
It’s going to take a brilliant team to save this from flatlining.

Three Rivers (CBS)
The Backstory:
Follow organs from donor to surgical team to recipient as the cooler travels through an angsty Pittsburgh hospital.
The Elevator Pitch:
Chicago Hope meets Seven Pounds.
The Good:
Ratings-giant CBS is rolling out only four shows this fall, so the powers that be must think this one is good. We’re not convinced.
The Bad:
The idea would have made for an intriguing episode of ER, but it’s a pretty thin premise to hang a series on.
The Verdict:
Keep this one on ice for now.

Mercy (NBC) above
The Backstory:
An Iraq war vet (Taylor Schilling; in maroon scrubs) joins a team of sexy nurses in the soapiest hospital outside of daytime TV.
The Elevator Pitch:
Grey’s Nurses.
The Good:
Um…we’ve never seen such low-cut scrubs before.
The Bad:
Nobody needs another Grey’s Anatomy.
The Verdict:
Pull the plug, stat.

Modern Family (ABC)
The Backstory:
Ed O’Neill (Married With Children) returns to sitcom land for this mockumentarystyle show about three quirky families.
The Elevator Pitch:
The Office meets a friendlier Married With Children.
The Good:
Offbeat parenting, like disciplining a BB-gun-wielding child by shooting him with the offending toy.
The Bad:
Can O’Neill cut it if he’s not Al Bundy?
The Verdict:
If audiences tune in, they’ll like it.

Hank (ABC)
The Backstory:
A Wall Street whiz kid (Kelsey Grammer) goes bust and moves his pampered family to the sticks to start over; hijinks ensue.
The Elevator Pitch:
Funny Farm with a dash of economic meltdown.
The Good:
Grammer and costar Melinda McGraw (Mad Men) bring plenty of talent; the pilot’s script was penned by an Emmy winner.
The Bad:
The family’s reversal of fortune might remind viewers of their own disappearing 401(k)’s.
The Verdict:
Laughing at the downfall of the rich never gets old.

Community (NBC)
The Backstory:
The Soup’s Joel McHale is a snarky suspended lawyer sent back to community college to make up for his bogus law degree.
The Elevator Pitch:
A hipster Back to School.
The Good:
McHale’s trade mark wit; Chevy Chase and The Daily Show’s John Oliver in supporting roles; Arrested Development alumni as producers. That’s an A-plus combination.
The Bad:
A band-of misfits study group? Somebody OD’d on John Hughes movies.
The Verdict:
A summa cum laude graduation.

Brothers (FOX) above
The Backstory:
A former NFL star (Michael Strahan) comes home to bail out his brother (multishow vet Daryl “Chill” Mitchell), then has to deal with some problems of his own.
The Elevator Pitch:
Everybody’s All-American with a fraternal twist.
The Good:
The focus on brotherly bonding is appealing, and Mitchell is generally funny as hell.
The Bad:
Not much sets this apart from the usual new comedies that fumble every season. And really, how many athletes can act?
The Verdict:
We’re reserving judgment till halftime.

Flash Forward (ABC)
The Backstory:
The world loses consciousness for two minutes and takes a mental trip six months into the
future. Hope someone got lotto numbers!
The Elevator Pitch:
A Village of the Damned blackout takes us Back to the Future.
The Good:
Cool premise; strong cast (Joseph Fiennes, Star Trek’s John Cho).
The Bad:
High-concept shows often fall flat after the first few episodes.
The Verdict:
Could be the next Lost… or the next Lost circa rocky season three.

The Vampire Diaries (CW)
The Backstory:
Vampire brothers—one good, one evil—battle over a demure teenage girl in a small town.
The Elevator Pitch:
Supernatural sibs with Twilight fangs.
The Good:
Lost’s Ian Somerhalder is back from the dead as the bad vamp.
The Bad:
The soapy romance looks more Twilight than True Blood.
The Verdict:
Where’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer when we need her?

The Cleveland Show (FOX)
The Backstory:
Family Guy’s favorite neighbor spins-off to Virginia with his new brood for wacky, irreverent fun.
The Elevator Pitch:
Family Guy Gets His Groove Back.
The Good:
If you like the character Cleveland, you’ll probably like this show.
The Bad:
Mild-mannered Cleveland might not deliver the kind of biting humor Family Guy fans crave.
The Verdict:
Don’t unpack that moving van just yet.

NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS)
The Backstory:
Chris O’Donnell and LL Cool J dive deep undercover in a new branch of CBS’s hit show.
The Elevator Pitch:
NCIS: Special Ops Unit.
The Good:
With its strong cast and red-hot franchise appeal, it’ll likely bring ratings gold.
The Bad:
How many procedurals can one network sustain?
The Verdict:
Things are looking sunny in L.A.

Human Target (FOX)
The Backstory:
Mark Valley (Fringe) stars as a proxy to protect endangered clients in this adaptation of a DC Comics graphic novel.
The Elevator Pitch:
Terminator 2 meets James Bond.
The Good:
Kickass effects, great action, and Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica) in the pilot.
The Bad:
The hero is, understandably, pretty one-dimensional; the premise itself could result in one-note staleness.
The Verdict:
Our TiVos are locked on and ready to record.

Day One (NBC)
The Backstory:
Global catastrophe strikes; ordinary citizens must unravel the mystery and rebuild society.
The Elevator Pitch:
Jericho meets The Stand.
The Good:
We love a good apocalypse!
The Bad:
Jericho didn’t fare so well.
The Verdict:
We’ll give it at least a day or two.

V (ABC)
The Backstory:
Aliens with a secret agenda infiltrate Earth in this remake of the eighties miniseries.
The Elevator Pitch:
Independence Day with shades of Galactica (the enemy looks like us!).
The Good:
Full of surprises, even if you’ve seen the original; a great cast led by Lost’s Elizabeth Mitchell.
The Bad:
The nature of the Visitors might be too cheesy for today.
The Verdict:
Bring on the invasion!

Happy Town (ABC)
The Backstory:
Seven years after mysterious unsolved kidnappings plague a small idyllic town, a new crime spree threatens the peace.
The Elevator Pitch:
Twin Peaks meets Harper’s Ferry.
The Good:
Amy Acker (Dollhouse) and Sam Neill (Jurassic Park) bring weight to a spooky story.
The Bad:
A tired concept that’s been done before, and done much better.
The Verdict:
This show will mysteriously vanish before long.

For years, Samoa Joe has dominated on the TNA Wrest ling stage, facing down some pretty formidable characters. But what he really enjoys is playing practical jokes on his teammates.

There’s been a long history of pranking in wrestling. Is there one you particularly admire?
There’s one, but it’s just because Terry Funk does it. Terry will walk through the entire airport lugging his bag like he’s carrying a million pounds. By the time he’s at the plane, he’s worked up a full sweat. That’s when the flight attendant walks up and says, “Excuse me, sir, may I help you with your bag?” I was with him one time when the girl pulled the
bag up and her hand flew over her head and she nearly landed on her ass. It was as light as a feather.

Have you been pranked?
Yeah, it was a classic: the enormous hotel bill. You go down to the business center and ask for a piece of hotel paper to write a note on. Then you print up a bill with all these fake charges. My buddies put this bill under my door and it’s got, like, $556 in movies. Afterward, I’m yelling at the hotel guy in the lobby, like, “I did not spend this! You guys have shit porn! How would I spend this in one night?!”

What goes down in the TNA
locker room? Some guys have had powdered milk put into their gear. Once you start sweating and moving around, it smells bad and the person wearing it has no idea why.

I like classic ones. Everyone knows the Mentos in Diet Coke trick, but you take a string and lace it through a Mento with a needle and tie it to the top of the bottle, then screw on the cap. Then, when your buddy goes, “I’m thirsty,” you hand him that. When he opens it, it explodes in his face.

What’s this rumor we hear about an iPod taser?
I’m sorry to say, the taser doesn’t work. These are things we come up with when we’re sitting around the locker room. One busted iPod later, you realize it’s not possible. But the disposable-camera one does work. If you get it on the back of
your neck, it leaves a mark.

Have you ever pulled a prank despite being concerned about the person’s reaction?
Well, in Japan I worked with a wrestler, Kohei Sato. To haze wrestlers there, they threw firecrackers in front of them. The promoter told me to stick a firecracker in the guy’s pants. It tore his pants to shreds! He took his cellphone out of his pocket and it was just … smoking.

As the bumbling manager on Flight of the Conchords, New Zealand comedian Rhys Darby is tasked with guiding our heroes’ musical careers. He’s so good he has his own stalker.
-By Ed Condran

Rhys Darby is the antithesis of his inept character on HBO’s Flight of the Conchords. The charismatic comedian has been surprising fans with his unpredictable material for going on two decades. Now that he’s shared the big screen with Jim Carrey in Yes Man and is reprising his Murray role for the second season of Conchords, it seems safe to say that his eagle won’t be landing anytime soon. In fact, Darby is really starting to soar. Enough damn flying metaphors for you, already?

During a Flight of the Conchords concert in Philly, someone shouted, “Where’s Murray?” Where were you?
Probably making a movie. I think that’s great. It’s [Jemaine Clement’s and Bret McKenzie’s] show, but it’s always been about the three of us.

Is Murray secretly cool and getting plenty of action?
I wouldn’t say he gets much action, but he does have another life. Some power has gone to his head. He got successful and really didn’t know what to do with that.

There’s a stalker character on the show. Have you ever been stalked?
Yes, back in New Zealand. One chap made me a jacket. He sewed it all himself and left it on my doorstep.

What happened to him?
He bought a giant bouncy castle. He wanted me to drive down to the beach so we could jump on it together, but the beach was an hour and a half away and it was at night, so I couldn’t.

You got back to him? Are you as crazy as he is?
That was then. Now I have an en tourage that can follow me around and just squire people away.

You sing on the Conchord’s song “Leggy Blonde.” Are you a leg man who’s into blondes?When I was younger, I guess I was into the stereotypical leggy blonde. It never happened. I never went out with a blonde or anyone who had long legs. It wasn’t meant to be.

Do a lot of your stand-up fans expect you to be Murray onstage?
I hope they’ve done their homework and found that I’ve been doing physical stand-up for 15 years.

What was it like working with Jim Carrey? Did he give you any advice?
Jim said this to me: “None of this matters. It’s all rubbish. We’re just being idiots. Don’t even think about all the cameras, the lights, all the extras. Forget about the millions of people that will see this movie. We’re just mucking around.” Great advice. I’ll always remember that.

Is it true that a company in New Zealand is experimenting with jetpacks?
It’s absolutely true. From what I gather, they haven’t gone farther than six feet. I want to get a jetpack so if a set I’m doing is going badly, I’m out of there and off into the sky.

The Backstory: In post-Katrina New Orleans, a specialized unit of cops takes back the streets—no easy feat, as the murder rate soars.
The Elevator Pitch: Hill Street Blues meets a more permissive FCC
The Good: Anthony Anderson kicked ass on The Shield. What’ll he do in the Big Easy?
The Bad: Real-life circumstances might make this a cringe-inducer.
The Verdict: We’re due for a gritty street-cop drama, but maybe not this one.

Back to You – Fox

The Backstory: TV anchor on a career downturn (Kelsey Grammer) teams up with his former partner
(Patricia Heaton). The obvious question: Will they or won’t they?

The Elevator Pitch: Mary Tyler Moore plus sexual tension

The Good: These comedy vets are proven commodities for viewers of a certain age; costars like Fred Willard

The Bad: No new ground broken here

The Verdict: Yesterday’s news, but it’ll likely be huge

The Backstory: A devout Muslim exchange student moves in with a Midwestern Christian family, and wackiness ensues.
The Elevator Pitch: Perfect Strangers with South Park ’tude
The Good: Interfaith hijinks:a brave new frontier for half-hour sitcoms
The Bad: The culture-clash jokes will get old fast.
The Verdict: Not worth clogging the TiVo

The Backstory: A baker named Ned somehow has the ability to bring murder victims back to life, so his PI partner knows whodunit.
The Elevator Pitch: Moonlighting meets The X-Files
The Good: Intriguing premise; excellent mix of romance, humor, and scifi-could be a breakout hit
The Bad: Something this gimmicky could work a few nerves in a hurry.
The Verdict: We smell a winner.